I came across an argument that writing and religious or legal rules were deliberately created by ancient elites to make people obedient, and that this ultimately explains why essentials like healthcare are monetized. How much of that can be supported, and what’s a more grounded way to think about it?
Is this a real historical explanation, or a big leap?
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MildPinecone
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Writing can help governments and other institutions keep records, set rules, and reinforce authority. But that doesn’t show it was invented as part of one coordinated plan to control everyone. The jump from “a tool can serve power” to “a ruling group designed it for that purpose” needs separate evidence.
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The useful distinction is between a system being shaped by power and a system being secretly designed from the start. Institutions can accumulate over time, with people making deliberate choices along the way. You can criticize who benefits and who bears the costs without needing a single ancient blueprint to explain it.
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For healthcare, I’d look at specific choices: who pays for care, which services are provided publicly, how prices are set, and what rules govern access. Those questions make the claim testable. A broad story about ancient texts doesn’t, on its own, explain how a particular healthcare system works today.
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MildPinecone:
So it’s fair to say written rules can reinforce authority without assuming that was the original reason for writing?